


Independence Day

by sptmbrwind



Category: due South
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-17 09:27:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/550087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sptmbrwind/pseuds/sptmbrwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haunted, Vecchio sees a ghost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Independence Day

Miami, Florida, USA - July 4th, 2000

He leaned back on his elbows as he stared up at the fireworks. He closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them and scanned the crowd, looking for his wife. She wasn't in sight, which he mused was becoming habit as of late.

He sighed and shifted his position as he stared up at the colorful display in the sky. Sitting up, he pulled his thin jacket tight around himself, blocking out the unusually cold summer night. With a soft sigh, he climbed to his feet and began walking away from the murmuring crowd.

He was lonely. He hated spending any holiday, no matter how cheesy, by himself. As he and his wife drifted further apart, he longed for the closeness and comfort of all the people he'd left behind. He missed his family, his former co-workers and friends, and the man he'd once regarded as his best friend.

So it was with an intense feeling of loneliness and desperation that he found himself walking through the darkened streets until he came to the all-night diner. It was with little thought and a general feeling of mourning that he ordered his coffee and doughnut. And it was with little hesitation and a twisted sense of anticipation that he sat down to chat with the unforgettable woman that he found there that night.

~~~

She was so tired. She was so tired of running, tired of fearing, tired of everything. She was tired of being tired. She wanted to rest. She wanted to heal. She wanted to turn the clocks back, erase all that had happened, and make everything right again.

She wanted to find him. Them. Apologize, kiss, hug, make up, love.

But she knew that wouldn't happen. So she didn't try.

Instead, upon her return to the States, she'd settled down in a place as far away from Chicago as she could get. It was all she could do to keep from snatching up the phone and calling up the past. She kept herself isolated. She didn't want to meet any ghosts.

She met one.

Purely by accident, of course. She hadn't meant to run into him, hadn't even known he was in Miami. The only thing that kept her from fleeing was the look in his eyes. He was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Surprise.

Then anger. Then hate. She'd been expecting that.

He said nothing. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to lose him, wanted to make the best of the meeting. So she'd invited him to sit with her. And the bursting of fireworks outside added the perfect punctuation to her tale as they began talking.

~~~

Ray Vecchio stirred his coffee absentmindedly as he studied the woman sitting in front of him. She looked older, he noted immediately, as if the past years had taken quite a toll on her. Her dark hair had been cut short, and several strands of grey showed. Creases at the corners of her eyes and dark circles told of sleepless nights, and the lack of makeup and the rumpled cheap clothes suggested that she'd given up caring about her appearance. The green eyes no longer showed hatred, but exhaustion. In short, she was not quite the same beautiful, confident, manipulative, carefree woman he'd once known and hates. To put it bluntly, Ray mused, she looked like shit.

And he didn't care.

She stared down at her tea, not saying a word, so he supposed it was up to him to start a conversation. He spoke the first thing that came to mind. "You look like shit, Victoria."

She raised her head and studied him with a blank expression, then looked back down at her mug. "Like you care?" she mumbled softly.

"Not really."

"Didn't think so," she said with a slight shrug.

Ray continued stirring his coffee as he stared at the bowed head in front of him. Victoria seemed engrossed in her cooling tea, as if staring into the dark liquid would reveal some hidden secret.

He broke his eyes away from her and glanced quickly at the other people in the coffee shop. No one was paying any attention to the silent couple in the dark corner, and no one seemed surprised to see them ignoring the celebrations that continued throughout the rest of the city.

Ray finally pulled his spoon out of the mug and carefully wiped it on a napkin, then set it aside. Pushing his coffee away, he folded his arms on the table and took a deep breath. "What are you doing here, Victoria?" he asked.

The woman raised her head again and took a few moments to study the things that had changed in the past few minutes. Finally, she looked up at her companion and shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."

"You could," Ray agreed, "but I asked you first. I'm not going to play any of your sick little games this time, so you--"

"Calm down, Detective. I'm not playing any games right now." She cocked her head at him as he frowned. "What?"

He shook his head. "Why are you here, Victoria?"

She pulled her jacket tighter around and looked over Ray's shoulder at the other diners. "No one knows me here," she answered softly. "Why are you here?"

"I live here," he answered immediately, surprising himself.

She looked back at him. "Why? What about Benton?"

Ray leaned forward and lowered his voice so that Victoria had to strain to hear him. "You listen to me, you rotten little bitch, you are to stay away from Fraser, you hear me? You ever go near him again, and I will kill you with my bare hands. You've put him through enough shit. Don't you dare do that to him again!"

~~~

Victoria didn't flinch or blink as she listened to the man's threats. She wasn't surprised by his words, in fact she'd been expecting him to be much harsher. She knew she had done wrong, and that she deserved whatever punishment came to her.

But she didn't want the pig-headed cop to think he had the upper hand. She still had some pride.

She sat back and folded her arms over her chest, watching him calmly. "What exactly do you think I'd do, Detective? I mean you seem to think I came back for revenge. Did it ever occur to you that I may have changed? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I was worried about Benton? After all, after you shot him..."

She let her voice trail off, waiting to see if her words would have the effect she'd anticipated.

As expected, Ray's face flushed and his fingers curled tightly into fists. "Fuck you!" he shouted. "I never would have hit him if it weren't for you, you stupid bitch! It's all your fault!"

She managed a tiny smirk as she watched a waitress make her way over to the table. Victoria said nothing, but kept her eyes on the man's face as they were politely but firmly asked to leave the establishment.

They left their untouched drinks behind and exited together. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw him glaring at her. She slowly turned her head and faced him, watching with a calm expression. Neither spoke.

Finally, Ray pulled his jacket on and started walking. "If I had a gun tonight," he muttered, "I'd shoot you right here."

Victoria took that as an invitation, and fell into step beside him. "And what would that solve, Detective?"

"Everything. Kill you, get myself arrested, everything turns out fine. No goddamn marriage, no goddamn disability, no fucking nightmares, no bitch killers and bank robbers to run into at night. Every. Thing. Would. Be. Fine."

Victoria raised an eyebrow. "You almost sound like you want to talk, Detective," she mused.

~~~

Ray stopped suddenly and turned to stare at her. She met his gaze, and held it as he tried to sort his thoughts.

'No. You are not going to pour your heart out to the bitch.'

'Why not? It's not like anyone else cares.'

'After what she did to you--'

'Benny! She hurt Benny!'

'And Dief.'

'And you.'

'She is a fucking cold-blooded murderer, ex-con, escapee. Turn her in!'

'Don't even think about trying to get sympathy from her.'

'Why not? Maybe she has changed.'

'You've certainly changed, Armando.'

'I'm not Armando anymore.'

'Does it matter?'

Ray swallowed and dropped his eyes, staring at the sidewalk. He looked around at the deserted street and sighed. "I'm not gonna tell you anything, Victoria," he decided.

She shrugged and began walking again. "Fine," was all she said.

Ray hurried to catch up with her, then slowed to match her pace. "Where have you been?"

"Moved around a lot. I don't know."

"You know, I could turn you in."

"You could."

"I should."

Victoria stopped and glared at him. "What do you want, Detective Vecchio? An apology? I'm sorry for making you shoot Benton, and I'm sorry for hurting his wolf, and I'm sorry for trying to ruin you, and I'm sorry for coming to Florida, and I'm sorry that he ever found me in that damn snowstorm!" she spat through tears. "Is that what you want to hear? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Ray shook his head at her. "I don't want apologies from you. I don't want anything from you."

Victoria wiped her eyes and looked away. "I don't know what I can tell you, Detective--"

"Stop calling me that, damn it! I'm not a fucking detective anymore!"

She stared, confused, then stuffed her hands in her pockets and turned away. "Fine," she said again.

They continued walking in silence.

~~~

Victoria walked with hand hands deep in her pockets, her shoulders hunched, and her head down. She avoided letting her eyes stray from the sidewalk in front of her as she mused on her situation.

She had the perfect opportunity. She couldn't lose. Here she was, walking side-by-side with Ray Vecchio, and he hadn't even tried to kill her yet. She was holding that as a good omen, and hoped that it would turn out in her favor.

She knew she was risking her life and her future, but she was too tired, too desperate to care.

She finally looked up from the sidewalk and glanced at her companion. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I don't expect you to believe me," she began slowly.

"I don't," Ray cut in.

"But," she continued, "I do still care about Benton." There was no reply. "I want to see him," she said suddenly, surprising herself.

Ray stopped walking and slowly turned to face her. He said nothing as he stared at her. A minute passed by, and neither spoke or moved, then Ray took a deep breath. "No," was all he said.

Victoria suddenly raised her arm and slapped his cheek, hard. He raised a hand to the spot and stared back at her, confusion and anger in his eyes. "Bastard," she whispered, then turned and walked away.

~~~

Ray stayed rooted to the spot, numb. His face stung from the force of her slap, and his mind reeled.

'Follow her.'

'Forget the bitch.'

With a sigh, he dropped his hand, pulled his jacket tighter around himself, and jogged after the woman. Grabbing her arm, he yanked her around to face him. He saw tears filling her eyes as she stared icily back at him. "What the hell do you want with him?" he asked. "You ruined his life twice, almost killed him. What more could you possibly want to do to him?"

"Love him," she said simply. She straightened up and blinked several times. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"You miserable fucking bitch," he said, ignoring the stare from a passer-by. "You never loved him, you just wanted to destroy him."

She slapped him again, then again. As she raised her hand a third time, he grabbed her wrist and pushed her away. "You stupid bastard!" she cried. "You never understood anything! You never knew him! Never knew me! You can just stay in your goddamn dream world and pretend that you're doing him a favor, but I will find him!" she spat. "With or without your help."

"My help?" he repeated. "Is that what you want from me, Victoria?"

"I don't want anything from you," she hissed.

"Then that's what you'll get." With that, he turned to leave.

"He's in Canada, isn't he?" she called after he'd taken a few steps. Ray froze, but didn't turn. "I know he is, because you're here. I'll find him."

Ray turned back to her. He stared without speaking. He was not going to acknowledge her statement, not going to say, 'Yes, Fraser and that fucking blond detective are living it up in Canada with the Mountie's goddamn sister and the damn wolf while I spend the rest of my miserable life in this hellhole of a town, rotting away from old and new scars.'

She nodded at him. "I'll find him," she said again.

"And if you do? What then?"

"Why do you care?"

"He's my friend," Ray said automatically, then knew it was a lie. He hadn't had more than two conversations with anyone from his past since he moved from Illinois.

Victoria read his mind and nodded. "Leave him," she said. "I'll take care of him."

Ray stared at her for a minute, then turned and began walking. He didn't hear her shout after him. When he found himself in front of his house, he went inside and found himself facing another snarling female.

"Where the hell have you been?" Stella demanded. "It's almost three a.m.!"

Ray shrugged off his coat and hung it up in the closet, then fixed his eyes on his wife and shook his head. "Fuck you, Stella," he muttered, then brushed past the shocked woman and locked himself in the den.

He dug through the papers on his desk until he located a telephone number. He dialed and waited for an answer. "Hello?" the voice said.

Ray swallowed nervously, then took a breath. "I'm sorry, Benny," he said.

"Ray? What--" The Mountie's question was cut off as Ray hung up the phone. He squeezed his eyes shut, then unlocked another desk drawer, pulled out a gun, and silently loaded it.

Stella was in the kitchen, grumbling under her breath as she made a cup of coffee. When she heard the gunshot, she dropped the mug and stared numbly as the dark liquid stained the floor tiles.

Outside, fireworks could still be heard and loud voices continued to shout out in celebration of independence.

**End**


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